ASPCA Poison Control Aids Dog after Renovation Project Gone Wrong

Renovating a home is rarely an easy task—even when our faithful pets are trying to help! One pet parent, Consie, learned that the hard way when her seven-month-old pup, Martha, decided to lend a paw during a recent renovation project.

Martha got into a jar of putty Consie was using to fill holes in a wall, happily licking at it as if it were peanut butter. Consie immediately took the putty away from Martha and called the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center (APCC). “It makes sense to contact the experts in animal poisoning, and I didn’t have much time,” says Consie. “Martha could have seriously hurt herself and I needed to know the best course of action immediately.”

Luckily, the putty Martha consumed was non-toxic, but that didn’t mean this well-meaning dog was out of the woods. The amount of putty she consumed could still cause severe constipation, or even bowel obstruction. Amanda, an APCC veterinary assistant, and Dr. Michael Knight, one of the APCC’s veterinary toxicologists, carefully walked Consie through how to induce vomiting in the pup.

A few minutes (and a small mess) later, the putty was out of Martha’s system and the potential danger was mitigated. “Amanda and Dr. Knight gave me excellent advice and stayed on the phone with me the whole time. I’m really grateful to them and the APCC team,” says Consie.

The ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center has been helping pet parents like Consie for 35 years, providing invaluable expertise and life-saving information 24 hours a day, seven days a week and 365 days a year. This year, the APCC will take on an estimated 273,000 calls—that’s 500-plus cases per day!

If you think your pet may have ingested a potentially poisonous substance, call (888) 426-4435. You can also connect with the APCC on Facebook and Twitter.